Who has talked with someone on the Moon? At least 34 people have spoken with someone on the Moon, either while the astronauts they spoke with were walking on the moon or while they were in the Lunar Module while that vehicle was on the Moon's surface. This includes 12 people who did so from the surface of the moon themsleves (talking to their partner), 6 who did so while in orbit around the moon (taking to their crewmates), and 16 others who did so only from the surface of the Earth. Other than the 24 people who actually traveled to the moon (the 18 listed here and 6 others that flew to the moon only on missions that did not land), the 6 that had the primary responsibility for communications while astronauts were walking on the Moon's surface probably had an experience most like being there. People who walked on the moon themselves: Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11 CDR) Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 LMP) Pete Conrad (Apollo 12 CDR) Al Bean (Apollo 12 LMP) Alan Sheppard (Apollo 14 CDR) Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14 LMP, Apollo 15/16 CAPCOM) Dave Scott (Apollo 15 CDR) Jim Irwin (Apollo 15 LMP, Apollo 16 CAPCOM) John Young (Apollo 16 CDR) Charlie Duke (Apollo 16 LMP, Apollo 11 CAPCOM) Gene Cernan (Apollo 17 CDR) Jack Schmitt (Apollo 17 LMP, Apollo 12 CAPCOM) Command Module Pilots on landing missions: Mike Collins (Apollo 11 CMP) Dick Gordon (Apollo 12 CMP) Stu Roosa (Apollo 14 CMP, Apollo 16 CAPCOM) Al Worden (Apollo 15 CMP) Ken Mattingly (Apollo 16 CMP) Ron Evans (Apollo 17 CMP, Apollo 11 CAPCOM) EVA CAPCOMs: Bruce McCandless (Apollo 11 EVA, Apollo 14 EVA1) Ed Gibson (Apollo 12 EVA) Fred Haise (Apollo 14 EVA2) Joe Allen (Apollo 15 EVA, Apollo 17) Tony England (Apollo 16 EVA), apparently youngest moontalker (age 29) Bob Parker (Apollo 15, Apollo 17 EVA) Other CAPCOMs: Owen Garriott (Apollo 11) Gerry Carr (Apollo 12) Paul Weitz (Apolo 12) Gordon Fullerton (Apollo 14/15/17) Joe Engle (Apollo 14) Don Peterson (Apollo 16) Other people: Richard Nixon, President (Apollo 11) John Saxon, Honeysuckle Creek (Apollo 16), because of comm problems Deke Slayton, Director of Flight Crew Operations (Apollo 11/16) James Fletcher, NASA Administrator (Apollo 17) People who could have, but didn't: The Flight Director was the only person in mission control other than the CAPCOM who was routinely authorized talk with the astronauts. Several did so, but apparently none did so successfully while the astronauts were on the surface of the Moon. Flight directors who elected to transmit: Gerry Griffin (Apollo 15, one transmission, not received on the Moon) Flight Directors who apparently never transmitted: Apollo 11: Charlesworth, Griffin, Kranz, Lunney Apollo 12: Griffin, Frank, Charlesworth, Windler Apollo 14: Frank, Lunney, Windler, Griffin Apollo 15: Windler, Lunney, Kranz Apollo 16: Frank, Shaffer, Kranz, Puddy, Hutchinson, Lewis Apollo 17: Griffin, Kranz, Hutchinson, Frank, Lewis Trivia: Interestingly, for every landing mission either the LMP or the EVA CAPCOM had earned a Ph.D. before the mission was flown: Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin (LMP) Apollo 12: Ed Gibson (EVA CAPCOM) Apollo 14: Ed Mitchell (LMP) Apollo 15: Joe Allen (EVA CAPCOM) Apollo 16: Tony England (EVA CAPCOM) Apollo 17: Jack Schmitt (LMP), Bob Parker (EVA CAPCOM) Also of interest, all 12 of the astronauts that spoke with someone on the Moon only from the surface of the Earth eventually flew in space. One had already flown around the moon by that time (Fred Haise); the other 11 flew later but never got beyond earth orbit.